


so i won't stay very long

by roronne



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Flying, M/M, Travelling together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-05 16:49:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14048592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roronne/pseuds/roronne
Summary: i would say i love you but saying it out loud is hard, so i won't say it at allTravelling together drabble; seated separately on the 12-hour flight from LAX to Tokyo Narita (yikes)





	so i won't stay very long

\--

“That’ll be 6A, on the right by the window. Thank you for flying with us today!”

“Huh?”

Flying home from a second home was always a strangely tragic, nostalgic feeling, from echoes of teenage arguments that were put on hold whenever one of them boarded a plane alone. But this time was different – they were heading back to Japan together, to Taiga’s apartment, from the sweltering dry-heat of LA, and that knowledge had sent energy crackling through Taiga and a carefully budding joy in Tatsuya all afternoon in the airport terminal. He’d even let himself be dragged into a few group selfies through the transfer lounge without a trace of impatience in his smiles.

Still the buoyant mood instantly dropped when the air stewardess chirpily announced a totally different seat number as she handed back Tatsuya’s passport.

“Excuse me?” he replied, bluntly enough that his companion paused a few steps down the aisle.

“Just a few rows from here, on your right if you will, sir!”

Taiga brusquely called out, “Sorry, there has to be a mistake. We’re travelling together.”

“Ah, I am sorry – your seat is assigned at check-in, if you haven’t booked a particular seat?”

“Booked…”

Neither had thought to check their passes; they’d been seated together on the flight over. But Taiga held up his boarding pass and clear as day, the seat number printed was double-digits away from what she’d quoted to Tatsuya, who was frowning lightly at his own pass before seeming to accept it. The booking system must have changed—or maybe it was coincidence that they were grouped in the first journey. Taiga wedged himself sideways in the tiny aisle to grimace back at Tatsuya, unsure of how to act in the face of separation.

“What d’you wanna do?”

“Let’s just sit for now,” Tatsuya shrugged his duffle bag a little higher on his shoulder and offered a small smile to the stewardess, and to his partner. “We can always swap around later.”

That seemed like the best idea, especially with the queue growing restless behind them, so they headed down the cramped cabin, Taiga finally sitting in the back half and glancing back to see Tatsuya settling in rows ahead, and on the other side even. Lucky guy even had a window seat.

Shuffling passengers in a line eventually became a seated cabin; Taiga kept his gaze on the top of Tatsuya’s head (at least, he figured that was his black fluffy hair bobbing about in that row) through the safety demonstrations and seatbelt checks.

Tatsuya seemed to twist about once to look back, but although Taiga spotted him he didn’t catch his eye.

He felt a little lonely as they took off, the acceleration driving home the weird empty feeling he had between two silent strangers.

\--

It took longer than usual until the seatbelt sign was turned off (or maybe the anticipation made each second drag), then Taiga was out of his seat in moments, wedging past his kind neighbour to get into the aisle and down to where Tatsuya was. A few other passengers rose here and there, already itching to stretch their legs or use the bathroom.

He spotted him and approached his row, where his partner sat comfortably by the window reading the in-flight magazine. The guy closest to the aisle, and the woman between them, turned, surprised for a moment at Taiga towering over them.

“Tatsuya,” he started.

He looked up, mild as ever.

“Oh – hey.”

 _Why are you so comfy already?,_ Taiga thought. “Wanna move?”

“Move, uh…” Tatsuya glanced at his neighbours who seemed to only settle more comfortably into their seats. He offered a crestfallen smile. “…Maybe in a while? After they roll out the carts?”

“Right, right.”

“And maybe then there’ll be somewhere for me to sit too.” He smiled. A few people had moved, but not enough to vacate any seats for long.

“Sorry.”

“Nah, ‘s’okay.”

Taiga sat again, trying to absorb at least an ounce of Tatsuya’s patience.

\--

He was bored, and the more he tried to wait the more he felt caged in like a mistreated circus animal; there was no damn armrest space for his forearms, nowhere for his legs to go much less his bag by his feet that contained all his travel goods. The in-flight magazine just had a lot of strange touristy news about Nara deer and giant statues and the screen the crew used for announcements was showing Japan’s sakura-fall forecast on repeat.

It had only been forty minutes and he was craving a comfortable chat, the energy building up in his long limbs. After a little while his dozing neighbour in the window seat stirred, woken by Taiga’s leg anxiously jiggling next to his, and flopped over to sleep on the other side.

He peeked above the rows again and saw Tatsuya laughing with his neighbour – only in his gentle, polite way, but nonetheless.

Was he chatting to the couple next to him, he wondered? Were they asking him questions or did he unfortunately get roped into conversation after asking a steward something small? He could imagine him picking up a long chat either way…

Focused on that spot in the distance, he dozed off with a crick in his neck.

\--

 The sensation of somebody passing items across him shook Taiga awake, blearily looking from left to right as the stewardess gave out in-flight meals. He duly took his on autopilot, the lack of scent and crazy amounts of plastic packaging turning off the idea of it being _food_ ; another hand moved into his vision to put down his tray-table.

“Good nap?”

“Tatsuya,” Taiga mumbled, waking up a little more properly with a rub of his eyes – and staring at the person next to him, who was very much not Tatsuya at all but his aisle neighbour who smiled awkwardly. He reddened.

“Sorry – half-asleep.” He replied back in English, realising that that was the part that tripped him up, probably. Looking back to his tiny kindergarten-toy ‘meal’ his stomach dropped even as his temperature rose. If anything was going to make him feel better about blurting out his boyfriend’s name to a stranger it wasn’t going to be this sad snack.

All the same he ate it, even as others were still fighting with the individually-wrapped cutlery. Rubbery rice so thick it didn’t leave a grain on his face.

Something moving in the distance caught his eye as he zoned out; he looked up, recognising Tatsuya’s eyes and the hint of a grin in them, waving back at him.

Taiga went to raise a hand but Tatsuya dipped again, then rose, turned a little more fully, and waved the sandwich portion in the air. He even pointed at it to drive his point home. Taiga snorted before he could help it at Tatsuya shrugging comedically and mouthing _, is this even real?_

Only ten hours left…

\--

Although his neighbour had left to stretch his legs, Taiga was hesitant about getting up again and the person in front of him was getting seriously concerned about how much the guy was leaning forward and sticking his head out.

Fuck it – he wedged himself out, it had been a few hours by now, it wasn’t like he was getting up every two minutes—

“Hello, stranger.”

Getting up he’d come face to face with—

“Tatsuya!”

“We had the same thought, huh?” he grinned, nodding towards the empty seat with a dangerous flick of his fringe, “Let’s sit while we got the chance.”

“Sure! Saves me the trip!”

Tatsuya seemed tired as they settled back in, armrests up and their postures open and comfy in the hard framework of the seats, but the mood instantly brightened up with a few laughs and shared complaints over the food. It turned out he’d had somewhat of a grilling over there in row 6.

“And then they asked about where’s good for sushi in Tokyo, is it safe to eat raw fish, this kinda thing…”

“You didn’t even live there!” Taiga sympathised grouchily, slouched over like a napping panther and nudging knee to knee with his partner. It felt warmer in the seat too as though the recycled air had a little heat woven in.

“Yeah, but we are all heading there right now.”

“Right, but…” He ran lines down Tatsuya’s bare forearms, soon tugging down the cuff of his hoodie sleeve to cover up those goosebumps from the air con. Tatsuya flexed a little and teased back, poking Taiga’s knee.

“Got enough room?”

“Pfft. _No_.”

Taiga flushed at Tatsuya’s laughter to his own grumpy reaction; he’d realised the sarcasm just that little too late, huh. It made him more conscious of the company they had all round them in the cabin, even if nobody was looking at them, even if it was a sea of earphones on headrests. But Tatsuya seemed fine with the silence that followed and wound down with a small smile. His hand didn’t move from Taiga’s knee either. Blue skies and white clouds flew past those windows built as small and round as they’d imagined submarine portholes to look as kids.

They sprang apart from where they’d been cosily tangled on the seats as soon as the rightful owner came back, and within moments each of them were cold and alone again, but this time at least, Taiga felt more settled and ready to tackle the remaining time. The remaining time that was—

Six hours.

Shit.

\--

Rousing him from his sleep wasn’t the bumping of seats or the turbulence of landing, but a cool hand closing around his. He gripped back instinctively as he slowly came to the sensation of neckache and an earphone bud still clinging in from the dire in-flight movie.

“Taiga, hey,” a smooth voice lifted him up and the plane cabin came into focus – Tatsuya’s charcoal-grey hoodie, passengers filing past slowly behind him, “We’re here.”

Still stiff from poor sleeping posture Taiga worked his way out of the tightly-squeezed row with all bags hefting up on shoulders and impatience cramming the aisle, but Tatsuya stood firm and slim past strangers with a grip like iron, until he was out and those strong fingers wove between his, pulling them towards the front of the cabin.

He kept looking back at Taiga but not checking for anything; smiling, but saying nothing.

He didn’t let go until their heels hit the tarmac and then Tatsuya’s arms were around his neck, laughing.

“Welcome home. I missed you!”


End file.
